


Medieval Times: The Prince And The Musician

by Anakin133



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Medieval, M/M, Timeline Based Homophobia, medieval times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 23:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17876387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anakin133/pseuds/Anakin133
Summary: When common musician Cyrus Goodman meets a young stranger in the middle of the night, will his new acquaintance give him a new perspective on life and society?





	1. Chapter 1

• Cyrus’ POV •

I was walking to get my bread, as I do daily, when something unexpected happened. The tall, handsome boy about my age or maybe a year older, dressed in a black cape strolled down the street. He wasn’t alone, however. He had dozens of guards surrounding him. He was the prince; he always looked so arrogant and miserable. I couldn’t stand the sight of him, or any of his royal family.

As I waited for them to pass, I caught the boy looking around, and then he laid his gaze on me. His face visibly softened, and I saw him point to me while speaking with a guard. The guard shrugged, leading me to believe the boy was asking who I was. This frightened me a little, to be honest. What did I do? Perhaps he had mistaken me for someone who recently stole bread or something. Once they passed, I let out a sigh of relief that none of the guards were suddenly chasing after me for some misunderstanding. I collected my bread and headed back to my little corner beside a few shops. I placed the bread in a wooden box to take home with me later, picked up my flute. 

I began to do my common afternoon song, which stretched into the evening. By the time I began to pack up my things, darkness had fallen. I had foolishly forgotten to bring my candle. As I blindly shuffled around, looking for my flute and bread box, a small light to the right of me shocked me, as it was only maybe a foot away from me. In the glow of the candle, I could make out a familiar, young face, although I could not think of from where.

"I thought you might need the light, since it is dark, you know.“ The boy stated, bringing the light closer to my line of sight. His voice also seemed familiar, but I still was dumbfounded as to who it could be.

"W-who are you?” I asked, squinting my eyes in attempt to get a better view of him. From what I could tell, he seemed almost surprised, but then relaxed.

"My name is T.J. And yours?“

"Cyrus.” I smiled, and then a sudden thought came to me. “It’s dark out, how did you know I was here?”

The boy seemed to shuffle uncomfortably for a moment. “I… Listen to your music, from time to time. I am not permitted to leave my c- home, during the daylight without much unnecessary arrangement.”

I smirked. “So basically you sneak out at night, listen to my music, and do who knows what else until you go back in the middle of the night…?”

"Pretty much, except tonight I saw you didn’t have your candle, so I thought I would actually come out of the shadows for once and help.“ A half-smile curved his face.

I didn’t know what made me say it, since he was a complete stranger, but he seemed so trustworthy and genuine. "I was planning on going home now. Do you… Like tea?”

"I love tea.“

As we walked home to my house, we talked about sports, music, food, and anything else possible. I prepared tea in my humble home, and he was very thankful. We talked some more, but by the time we finished the entire pot of tea, dawn was breaking. And so was my head, from the exhaustion of staying up all night. I said goodnight, or good-morning, rather, as he left my house and made for the main town, trying to stay hidden so no early-risers saw him. He said he would meet me again tonight, and I could hardly wait.


	2. Chapter 2

• TJ’s POV •

It was getting close to midnight. I rose from bed and slowly made my way through my vast bedroom. As I reached for my cape, I smiled to myself. I had, for the past two weeks, been visiting the musician with the cute brown hair and soft eyes. I shook my head at my own thoughts; I couldn’t start thinking that way about him. I quietly climbed out of my window and jumped down. I started running toward the town. I reached the corner at exactly midnight. I searched the area for the familiar light, but found none.

“Cyrus?” I whispered into the brisk spring air. Then, I felt a tap on my back and smiled, turning around. The slightly shorter boy beamed up at me. I pulled him into a hug.

“I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner,” he began quietly. “Some of the castle guards came poking around today.They started asking me all sorts of questions. They even asked if I knew something about the young prince, like I would know him.” He laughed lightly. I felt myself inhale sharply, and my head felt like a pile of bricks just fell on me. Apparently, it was obvious because Cyrus placed a hand on my shoulder. I was glad it was dark, for my face heated up very fast.

I tried to make my voice sound as steady as possible. “I-I’m sorry that happened to you. I really am.” I took another sharp breath, and my voice sounded shaky. ”Cyrus, I love our conversations, our friendship. But I…” I placed my hand on his free hand, and he rubbed it with his thumb. I let a small tear fall down my cheek. “I can’t meet with you anymore. It’s too dangerous.”

He briskly took his hand off my shoulder, but tightened his grip on my hand. “What? Why? Dangerous- what does that mean?” I heard his voice break a little, and I felt my heart break in return. But it had to be done; Cyrus could be thrown in prison for life, if not executed if they found out about our relationship. I blushed at the word and shook myself back to reality.

“I ca- You have to believe me, Cyrus. It could mean your life.” I scolded myself mentally for the last sentence.

“What do mean, my life?” I could hear the anxiety seamed through his voice and my heart felt like it was just stabbed.

“I- You’re everything to me, Cyrus. I love you, you’re the best and only real friend I have.” I love you? Where did that come from? “But I was afraid if I told you, I would lose that. That you would only befriend me for my position, not me. But I’ve come to know now, that you don’t care about any of that. But I can’t let you get hurt because of me. Y-you could be thrown in prison for life, or even executed and I-”

I stopped as Cyrus put his soft, warm finger over my mouth, then took it away a he spoke. “Why would that happen?”

“Because I’m the prince.”


	3. Chapter 3

• Cyrus’ POV •

“You’re the what?” I gasped. I had become best friends - and quite possibly have a crush on - the prince that I so highly despised. The regret and heartbreak on his face proved to be more than I could handle; I reached my free hand and took his, now holding both his hands.

“I-I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it would be okay, that no one would find out. And I was afraid to lose the only true friend I have.” I could just barely see a tear riding down his cheek, since my eyes adjusted to the dark long ago. Without thinking, I released one of his hands and wiped the tear off his face with my thumb. He overlaid his hand on mine as I swiped the tear. My heart beating rapidly was all the silent night had to offer my ears.

I heard a branch crack just a few yards away, and I quickly pulled TJ as I ran in the opposite direction. I didn’t know where I could go, since the guards could be at my house and certainly be at TJ’s. So I ran aimlessly, until we were in the thick of the forest. I stopped when I realized I couldn’t breathe and that we were probably far from any possible threat from the guards.

“Come with me.” The boy in front of me, lightly pulling on my hand said.

“Where are we going?” I inquired as we made a short yet aimed trip through the forest. We stopped in front of the bottom of a large cliff with moss hanging across the lower part of it. TJ expertly placed his hand on some moss and moved it, as you would a curtain over a window. The curtain of moss allowed me to now see a small cave. The prince led me inside, lighting a candle which in turn illuminated the whole room. A bed, a table, a chair, and even some food were now visible to us.

“What is this place?” I asked as I let go of TJ’s hand, walking around the room to get a closer look.

“I come here every so often, if I just want to get away from being the prince for a day. I haven’t been here since I met you, so I’m sorry for the mess.” I chuckled lightly. “I found and set up this place when I was seven.”

I felt so good TJ was sharing this with me, even if he only brought me here because he had to.

“I was thinking of showing you this place in a few days, but then that happened.” He dramatically waved his hand at the now moss-covered entrance.

“You were?” Now I felt even better, despite how stupid I probably looked, blushing like I was. He nodded, and I noticed that his cheeks were tinted pink as well.

“We, um, can…” He cleared his throat, mumbling about his voice betraying him. “We can stay here for the night, since the guards seem to be on alert.” 

He yawned and pulled a blanket from a chest under the table that I hadn’t noticed before. As he made the bed, I realized I was just standing there staring for far too long and decided to assist his bed-making.

“Which side do you want?” He asked, and my face heated up more at my realization that we would have to share his bed.

“Uh, doesn’t matter to me.” At that, he threw his pillow on the left side of the bed, searched for and found another pillow. He placed it on the right side for me, and I began to make my way to it. TJ casually unbuttoned and took off his shirt, at which I tried to pretend it didn’t faze me. Even though it did, a lot. Because wow. Then, he replaced it with a new, plain shirt he had laying in the chest. And then he repeated the process with his pants. Both times I thought I was going to faint.

He blew out the candle and sat next to me on the bed, smiled, patted my hand briefly, and then pulled himself under the blanket as he laid down. I did the same, turning on my side to meet him already looking softly at me. The bed was relatively big, but somehow our noses were only about three inches apart.

“Goodnight, Cyrus.” He said, and I briefly looked down at where I could see the faint outline of his lips.

My voice, although shaky, managed to squeak out a “Night, TJ.” I looked back at his barely visible eyes. But he wasn’t looking back, but rather at my own mouth. I swallowed nervously.

And that’s when it happened.


	4. Chapter 4

• TJ’s POV •

“You can’t do this!” I yelled, fighting back the tears threatening to fall.

“I am the king, and you are my son. Of course I can!” My father aggressively replied. I watched in horror as the guards threw Cyrus into an underground prison cell. I squirmed, hoping I could get away to grab him and escape, but our leading guard soldier held me firmly in place. I allowed my tears to finally fall freely as I sank to the floor. My father turned to the guard above me. “The execution will take place tomorrow.”

Flashback

I felt my heart race as the boy laying next to me slowly and cautiously edged closer to me. This was it. I would finally kiss the boy I was in love with. He bit his lip, his eyes darting back and forth. I leaned closer slightly; I could feel him rapidly breathing on my face. Just as our lips barely brushed each other, we both snapped back at the sudden light and noise coming from the entrance.

Four castle soldiers rushed in, two grabbing Cyrus and two me, dragging us out with relative ease and through the forest. Once we reached the castle, I saw my father, the king, standing there, arms folded, with a look of anger and disappointment obvious on his face.

Present

I felt a cold hand grab my shoulder as I sobbed and pull me up, forcing me across the dungeon hall towards the door to the rest of the castle. I heard myself calling out to Cyrus through the tears, but all I heard in response was his calm voice telling me it was okay.

After a couple hours, I was finally able to compose myself and leave my room. I put my black cape on and pulled the hood over my face. By now it was around eight in the morning, and I was exhausted as well as emotionally drained. I made my way down to the dungeon, raising my hands in innocence as one of the guards questioned my presence.

“I simply wish to see how the boy is, I do not intend to do anything rash.” He gave me a skeptical look, but still opened the cell door. I ran in and Cyrus stood up, melting into my arms as I hugged him. I felt tears fill up in my eyes again as I held the boy in my arms. Despite his positive and calm demeanor, Cyrus was shaking subtly.

“What are we going to do?” His voice broke slightly as he lifted his chin up to look at me, his arms still tightly wrapped around me. As I gazed back into his beautiful eyes, my heart broke all over again.


	5. Chapter 5

[Side note, since Cyrus is in prison I’m going to do TJ’s POV for a while]

• TJ’s POV •

I sat on the edge of my enormous bed, my chest aching and my head throbbing. I felt both like I ran out of tears and like I could cry forever at the same time. My mind wondered about what happened just as the guards captured us at night. I was going to kiss him! I realized I loved my best friend long ago, but to actually risk everything to expose that feeling I so deeply had? That brought much fear.

I knew I was attracted to boys the first time I saw Cyrus playing music in the square. He looked so charming and cute, a feeling I never felt towards any of the maidens who practically threw themselves at me - I was a prince, after all.

“I am very disappointed in you, son.” The king’s harsh voice shattered my thoughts as I snapped up to look at him in my doorway.

“I know.” He sighed angrily, stepping in my room slightly and shut the massive double-doors behind him.

“You… Some of the scouts noticed you sneaking around at night a few weeks ago, so I ordered them to follow you and bring you here once they got enough information.” I dropped my eyes to the floor; I knew where this was going. “I expected you to be out somewhere, breaking my rule to have some freedom. What I didn’t expect was to find out you were laying in a bed, in a cave, with a boy! A boy!”

I cringed as he bellowed, the echoes bouncing off my vaulted ceiling. “It wasn’t like that.” My voice was small and weak, and his scoff betrayed his disbelief.

“Oh, no? What was it like then?” He taunted, disgust obvious on his face as I dared to look at him.

“He’s my best friend, that’s all.”

“Then why do you sound so disappointed?”

I took a deep breath, my mind was a civil war reaching it’s highest point. “Because I love him, okay?! Is that what you wanted to hear?!” I winced inaudibly at the sharpness laced in my own voice. The king’s face contorted into something of confusion, anger, and slight disgust as I lifted my head confidently at him.

“So, you’re one of… them?” His words were slightly broken, certainly not as brutal as before. I nodded. “Do you have any idea what this means for the kingdom? You’re next in line to the throne; our royal name would be publicly ridiculed and humiliated!”

“Who says anyone would have to know?” I swallowed, unsure as to where my sudden confidence was coming from. “I’ve hidden it pretty well so far, haven’t I?”

He looked stunned for a moment, staring blankly at my face. “Even if you did manage to hid… this for a while and I did accept you for it, eventually you would reach the age where you would be forced to marry a girl for the sake of appearance and the kingdom!”

As he spoke, my thoughts surfed through ideas. “What if, when the time came, I told the public of a mystery girl who was killed suddenly, and I was so in love it wouldn’t feel right for me to marry another?” Surprisingly, my father actually seemed impressed by the idea.

“That would work, but I am still not convinced that I accept you for this. I should disown you, or worse, have you executed!”

I felt the confidence drain out of me once again as I looked to the floor. “I’m your son,” I began, my voice fragile. “Do you not love me enough to allow me to be happy?” He seemed shocked, even pained, at my words.

“Of course I love you, my dear boy.” And then, for the first time in my life, my father walked over and embraced me in a hug. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I returned it. “Your… friend will be released. I will allow you to associate with him as long as you don’t do anything publicly humiliating. Do you understand?”

I nodded and he let go, keeping his hands on my shoulders. “I want to meet the boy, properly. He must be special to receive your affections.” I smiled slightly.

“He is.”


	6. Chapter 6

• Cyrus' POV •

"Come with us." The gruff-voiced guard grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the cell, leading me up the stairs and into the main castle. Trying to desperately not focus on all of the terrible things the guard could be leading me to, I admired the wide, vaulted hallways with the gold and silver laced curtains and wooden cabinets. It was overwhelming, yet beautiful. I never thought that I, a poor musician, would ever see such extensive and elaborate wonders.

We stopped in front of a set of double doors, easily twice my height, and the guard let me go, standing directly in front of me. He knocked on one of the doors, and soon a familiar blonde boy opened them. My heart throbbed at the sight: he had dark exhaustion circles under his eyes, and his usually fluffy hair was a mess. His small smile lacked the energy and sincere joy I had become so accustomed to. The guard stepped aside, allowing TJ a clear path of vision to me. His eyes sparkled immediately, and that blinding grin returned, making my heart flutter.

"Cyrus!" The boy quickly rushed towards me, wrapping me in a tight, loving embrace. I returned the hug and nuzzled my head into the side of his neck. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay." His voice was soft and gentle, and my heart ached at his care. He shooed the guard away, only briefly letting me go to pull me into the bedroom by the hand, and closed the doors behind him. I hugged him tighter, and felt as though I never wanted to let go.

"What happened?" I lifted my head away from him, although my arms were still around his neck. He gazed at me silently, his eyes scanning across my face as though he was weighing a decision.

"You're free." I beamed at him, and he mirrored it before closing the small gap between our faces, connecting our lips in the most indescribable and unimaginably incredible way. I responded immediately, finally doing what I've wanted to do for weeks. When we broke away, I was pushed against the wall, my hands were placed delicately in his hair, and our foreheads were resting on each other's. We both had grins that filled our entire faces.

"I love you, TJ."

"I love you too, Cyrus."

~

 

Looking back now, I realize how much my life turned in the best way possible, despite a few bumps in the road, all because I forgot my light one night. If I hadn't, I might never have met the once annoying, arrogant prince (at least, that's what I thought he was) and accidentally fallen in love with him. I was a poor, invisible musician - yet he saw me, and he cared, despite the severe differences society expected of us. He's the Sun to my solar system, the one person my world revolves around and couldn't exist without.

And I've never been more glad to have made a silly mistake, like forgetting a light, in my life.


End file.
